Jata sells hair clipper made in China as "Made in Spain"

Jata sells a hair clipper made in China as "Made in Spain"

There is one label that has become the best sales pitch and, at the same time, the most elastic one: "Made in Spain". The Jata website boasts of "Tradition, quality and guarantee" and of its national seal. A consumer bought one of its hair clippers and came across the "Made in China" engraved on the device itself. On the box, not a trace. That is the central accusation in a case that sums up an old grievance.

The rest of the story says more of the same: a plastic head that looks fragile, a lithium battery that can be recharged only via USB and a cutting power that, according to the buyer, takes twice as long as with the previous machine. The complaint adds two uncomfortable details. The photo of the customer service team on the website would allegedly be an image bought from a stock photo library. And the company, with more than half a century of history, would still be living on public money.

What the Jata website says and what the device says

The gap between what was promised and what was delivered is, for the buyer, misleading advertising. The brand states on its page that it manufactures in Spain; the product bears the Chinese origin printed on it. The buyer did not know until opening the box, because the packaging did not warn about it. There lies the core of the anger: it is not just that the device comes from abroad, it is that the packaging hides it.

It is not an isolated or novel case, several participants argue. The national label works as a price lure, and the legal loophole to stretch it is well known. According to one of the accounts in the thread, sewing on a label, assembling a part or giving the final finish in Spain is enough, in practice, to place the seal; imported garments are mentioned to which "Made in Spain" was sewn upon arrival in the country, taking advantage of the fact that this last step allowed claiming the origin. It is the same trick, with another product.

The quality seal and public money

The brand is also accused of living on public funds. The company displays quality seals and, according to these criticisms, keeps receiving state aid despite its age and size. In the consumer's imagination, the official seal has become an inverted indicator: the more it is displayed, the more suspicion it raises. It is a reading as unfair as it is widespread, but cases like this give it ammunition.

The Chinese rebranding pattern

According to one of the participants, the phenomenon goes beyond one brand: several domestic manufacturers place the same Chinese product under different names, changing the colour of a button or the logo. The names change; the factory does not. The same user claims that Orbegozo, Cecotec or Jata itself share a catalogue and origin, and that the same device sold here for 50 euros under a local brand appears on international platforms for 15 or 20, with no logo.

Which hair clipper brands are safe?

The answer that emerges points to the classics. Wahl, of American origin, and Moser are among the brands used by barbers and hairdressers; there are corded models for around 30 euros, enough for home use. The German Babyliss, according to several accounts, still produces mains-powered machines that have lasted over three decades. The key that keeps coming up is avoiding the battery: a device with a plug does not have such a short expiry date.

The battery as a programmed expiry date

Several participants describe an uncomfortable pattern: the breakdown arrives just after the warranty expires, which in Spain is two years. Televisions that stop working after two or three years, batteries that last seconds and cost almost as much as the new device. The explanation going around is not conspiratorial, but economic: if nothing broke, nobody would buy.

The contrast with the past is inevitable. One consumer remembers a Philips Made in Korea bought in 1998 for 2000 pesetas that was still working twenty-five years later. Another keeps a German Babyliss three decades old without a drop of oil. The argument running through the thread is that 1990s electronics lasted because they were made at home; today the component is produced wherever it is cheapest and quality control is diluted along the chain.

And there the analysis gets stuck. Because the same consumer who complains about poorly made imports buys a MacBook that lasts him ten years and sees no contradiction. The line between the product that deceives and the one that is simply cheap is not drawn by the label: it is drawn by the price. Meanwhile, the "Made in Spain" that nobody verifies keeps selling.